


Rain

by killerweasel



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 23:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/627824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John doesn't hit Sherlock when he comes back. He doesn't faint. He just sits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain

Title: Rain  
Fandom: _Sherlock_  
Characters: John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes  
Word Count: 581  
Rating: PG  
A/N: AU after _The Reichenbach Fall_.  
Warnings: n/a  
Summary: John doesn't hit Sherlock when he comes back. He doesn't faint. He just sits.

When Sherlock suddenly comes back to life a year after his ‘death’, John doesn’t hit him. He doesn’t faint. He doesn’t even say a word. He just sits on the sofa and listens to Sherlock’s long-winded explanation about why he’d faked his death and what he’d been doing for the last twelve months.

John sits there, barely blinking, focusing on his friend’s voice. It doesn’t sound anything like it did that day. The voice on the other end of the phone still haunts him. Sometimes he wakes up screaming and he isn’t sure if it was due to a nightmare about the war or of seeing Sherlock’s body plunge towards the ground.

He wonders if Sherlock can really grasp what the impact of his ‘death’ did to everyone, not just John. John wasn’t the only one touched by it. He thinks about the phone calls and the news reporters, and the journalists who all want to know the truth. He thinks about Mrs. Hudson not being able to leave the flat to get groceries or do her hair without being bothered. He thinks about Lestrade having to defend each and every case Sherlock ever assisted him on before almost losing his job. He even thinks about Donovan and Anderson who did what they thought was right.

It takes him a moment to realize that Sherlock has finally stopped speaking. John gets to his feet and walks towards the front door, grabbing his jacket as he goes. He can hear Sherlock calling his name, but he keeps moving. He can’t be in that room any longer.

John doesn’t have a destination in mind. He just picks a direction and walks. It starts to rain, but he doesn’t notice. The moisture soaks through his jacket and run down his face. He finally stops at some little café. A small bell jingles as John steps through the door. His legs ache as he sits down at the table in the corner. The waitress takes one look at him and brings over a steaming cup of tea. She also gives him a small towel for his head.

He isn’t surprised when he’s suddenly joined by someone else. John can hear the sound of water dripping off of the closed umbrella and making a puddle on the floor. He knows Sherlock wouldn’t have sent his brother to follow him. He glances up long enough to acknowledge Mycroft’s presence before focusing on his tea.

Other than ordering some tea from the waitress, Mycroft says nothing. When John looks at him again, there’s an emotion on the other man’s face he can’t quite read. A thought pops into his mind, slipping into place like the final piece of a puzzle: Mycroft didn’t know the truth about Sherlock either. They exchange smiles that aren’t really smiles.

John is soaked to the bone and his legs ache. He tosses more than enough cash onto the table to cover both of their teas, plus a rather nice bonus for the waitress as thanks for the towel, and gets to his feet. He and Mycroft walk to the door together.

Mycroft’s car drops him off in front of 221B. John is about to shut the door when Mycroft leans forward. “Do say ‘hello’ to my brother for me, John.”

“Of course I will.” John gives Mycroft a smile and the elder Holmes matches it with one of his own. The smile is still there as he walks up to the front door.


End file.
